ET returns from the dead
by rhapsodybree
Summary: A story told in four points of view: ET, Nav, Buffer and Mike Flynn.
1. ET

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my own creations.

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The man that stepped onto the veranda of Nikki Caetano's house was a man known as Josh Holiday to some and ET to others. He'd been Nav's fiancée, a Hammersley crewmember and an all round good guy before he'd been found 'dead' with his fellow Robsenn diving business crewmates by the Hammersley crew long ago.

The reality was it was all a scam: his name was Rafe Bertolli and he was an undercover agent for the Australian Federal Police. The death of Josh Holiday had been staged: he'd been injected with a drug to lower his heart rate to such a level as to make him appear dead, and when the bodies were removed from the beach and transported back to the mainland for autopsy, his body disappeared, taken by the federal government.

He took on identities as ordered and worked long-term deep-cover operations. Josh Holiday on board the Hammersley as ET had simply been another operation. He'd spent the two years after Josh's death undercover in Karratha as Brock Cummings, then the following two years after that in Melbourne as Chris Winter.

With a job like this, a lack of relationships was the norm. His orders onboard the Hammersley had been to establish a relationship with a female officer. This would be a means for him to easily move amongst the navy without causing suspicion. After all, what was more romantic than a man willing to change ships and careers for the love of his life? But the one thing he had not planned on was falling _in_ love with Nikki Caetano. That was not part of the job description.

So here he was, four and a half years after his 'death' on her doorstep, and without the knowledge of his superiors, ready to take her back. He was due down in Newcastle to commence a three-year undercover operation in two days and he wanted Nikki to come with him.

She knew him as Josh Holiday – the loveable larrikin – but he was hoping that she'd take him as Rafe Bertolli. Josh was just one part of him, but he had all confidence that he could convince her that she still loved _him_ all the same.

Standing in front of the door, he prepared to make his presence known. His sources had advised him that this was where he could find Nikki Caetano, and they'd assured him that she would be home at this hour.

Raising his hand, he knocks on the door...

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_Next chapter: _Nav's point of view.


	2. Nav

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my own creations.

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When a knock sounded at the door, Nikki was standing four months pregnant in the kitchen washing up as she listened to the midday news on the radio, having just fed her daughter a bottle. Eleven month old Indigo Darcy wasn't ready for bed though, and was currently crawling everywhere – in and around her mother's legs and out to the lounge room – quite the little sprint star.

Drying her hands, and checking that her daughter is in the lounge room, Nikki makes her way to the front door, wondering who it could be at this hour. Unbolting the door, she finds herself face to face with a face from her past that she never expected to see again: there stood Josh Holiday.

Taking a step back, Nikki can't believe what she is seeing. This couldn't be possible. _It couldn't be true._ Raising her hand to her mouth in shock, she struggles to think. 'Josh?' she asked in disbelief.

'The one and only,' he said with a winning grin. 'I'm back.'

'Yeah, I can see that,' said Nikki trying to process everything. He was Josh, but he seemed different. 'But... but how?'

'It's a long story,' said the man in front of her, running his hand through his cropped brown hair. 'Can I come in?'

'Uh, sure...' said Nikki, staring blankly at the door before she shook her head and opened it wider. As her previously dead fiancee stepped into the hall, Nikki feels a movement at her feet. Looking down, she sees Indi gripping her leg as she stands on her wobbly feet, one hand stretched up at her. 'Mama. Up!' said a little voice.

Shutting the front door in a haze, she bends down and sweeps her daughter up into her arms, her shirt being pulled tight against her form as she did so, showcasing her small taut bump. Raising her eyes up to Josh's once again, she pulls Indi's thumb from her mouth as she sees his expression darken. 'Come in.'

Heading to the kitchen to fetch Indi a dummy as her daughter settles against her chest, Nikki finds herself face to face with a very different Josh Holiday than what she remembered.

When he began to explain just who he actually was, Nikki couldn't believe it. The man she'd loved so long ago – and still loved in a part of her heart – was now telling her that everything she knew about Josh Holiday was a scam. _He was an undercover officer?!_ 'What did that make our relationship?' she threw at him. 'Was that just all pretend too?'

'It wasn't supposed to happen,' he said honestly as Nikki exploded. 'But I did fall in love with you for real.'

When he professes his love for her and outlines his plan to take her to Newcastle with him – for another undercover operation to boot – Nikki feels sick as she comes to a realisation. 'I defended you,' she said as nausea builds within her. 'I defended your sorry ass when everyone else was willing to believe that you'd died an accidental death. I was willing to stand up for you and find the answers.'

When the man in front of her steps forward, as if making to touch her shoulder, Nikki takes a step back and holds her daughter close, as if by keeping a distance between them, it will be less real. 'I don't love you,' she whispered heartbroken. 'I don't even know you, Josh, or whatever your real name is.'

'It's still me Nikki,' begged the man standing opposite her. 'I know that you still love me. And I know that we could be good together. Trust me.'

'Trust you?' seethed Nikki. '_Trust you?!_ I know it's clearly a foreign concept to you, but trust is something earned. Here you are four years later waltzing back into my life and expecting me to drop everything and leave with you?!'

Nikki was now seeing a different side to the man she thought she knew, and she was discovering that she didn't like it. As he tried to reason why she should leave everything behind and come to Newcastle with him, Nikki spoke over her daughter's cries. 'You died!' she cried, jostling the crying baby in her arms. 'I was the one that had to pull you out of the water. Do you have any idea what that did to me?'

'Obviously wasn't too hard, as it looks like you've moved on,' was the spiteful response. 'Sorry,' was added quickly after, but Nikki was having none of it. 'I had to move on! I couldn't wait around for you. You were dead for god's sake! So yes, I got married and had kids.'

'You could have ...' Bending down to pick up her daughter's spat out dummy with tears in her eyes, Nikki reaches for a clean one as the man in her kitchen continues to try and reason with her. As Indigo continues to cry, distressed at her mother's distress and refuses to settle, Nikki spins around to face her ex-lover. She would breathe fire if she could. 'You're the one that left me without an explanation Mr Bertolli. So don't you dare pin this on me...'

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_Next chapter: _Buffer's point of view.


	3. Buffer

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my own creations.

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When the HMAS Hammersley pulled into the dock early that afternoon, and knowing they were on a tight turnaround before heading back out again, Buffer was off the boat in a flash. 'Call me when we're off again,' he shouts to his CO Mike Flynn. 'I need to get home.'

'Hurry up Buff,' calls Mike after him with a warning. 'It won't be long.'

Today was the third anniversary for his wife and him, and even if he only got to spend fifteen minutes with her – it would be better than no time at all. Stepping out of the taxi and walking up to his front door, Buffer was surprised to find it unlocked. Nikki was religious about locking up everything, especially with him away.

As he gingerly opens the door he looks around for any signs of danger. Stepping into the hall, his ears perk up instantly to the sound of screaming match in the kitchen. He can detect Nikki's voice raised in emotion, and his baby girl's cries were in the mix. He could also hear a man's voice – a vaguely familiar one. _Who was it?_

Dropping the roses on the hall table, Buffer makes his way to the kitchen where he is greeted with the sight of Nikki jostling their crying daughter in her arms as she argues with a man. Ignoring the dark haired man for the moment, he steps into the room and makes his way over to his wife. Resting his hand on her hair and neck in a comforting grip, and noting the tears pooling in Nikki's eyes, Buffer only has eyes for her. 'Are you okay?'

As Nikki opens her mouth to respond, another voice cuts across the room as he watches Nikki closes her eyes in pain. 'Him? Nikki, I understand you moving on, but did it have to be with him?!'

Turning at the voice, Buffer is greeted with the sight and sound of a person he never thought he'd see again. _This was the voice that had sounded familiar._ 'ET?' he asked bewilderedly. Whatever the reason for him being 'resurrected' from the dead, Buffer had a sinking feeling that it wasn't good. Tension was radiating off Nikki in waves.

'Yeah it's me Buff,' said the man stepping forward. 'Didn't take too long for you to step in and take my place did it? So tell me, how is the whore? Any good?'

Stepping away from Nikki, he feels the anger rising up in him. He had no idea what ET was doing back here, but it gave him no right to abuse the woman he loved - the same woman that ET had once sworn he'd loved too. Clenching his fist, Buffer raises his arm. He stops when he feels Nikki's hand on his bicep, restraining him. Turning his angry eyes away from the man in front of him, Buffer silently questions the small woman now in front of him. 'Pete, it's not worth it.'

Looking at her incredulously, Buffer's fist unclenches as his wife continues to speak. 'It's past Indi's naptime.'

'I'm not leaving you out here by yourself,' he swore, even as he took his wailing daughter into his arms, hands automatically running up and down her back to sooth her as Indigo sniffled into his chest.

'We have a few more things to talk about here, and then Mr Agent over there will be leaving my life forever,' said Nikki in a hard tone.

Wondering at the 'Mr Agent' tag, Buffer decided to trust his wife's instincts. _If she had some things to say, she had things to say._ And besides, he'd be in the next room if things got messy. Nodding his head in her direction, Buffer removes his hand from his daughter's back to grasp the back of Nikki's neck and pull her in for a kiss, firmly stamping his possession on her. Parting, he looks her in the eyes, and sensing the doubt there, offers what support he can. 'Love you.'

Pulling Indi's thumb from her mouth as he turned, Buffer gave ET a hard look as he passed the man. 'Don't you dare try anything,' he ground out and was gratified to see a flicker of fear in ET's eyes.

Stepping into his daughter's room, he picks up a dummy from the chest of drawers and paces the room. With his daughter not settling, no doubt the events of today wreaking havoc on her, Buffer continues to walk the length of the room, head full of what was happening. _ET had returned?!_

Whilst the noise level in the kitchen was not at the same level as when he'd arrived home, Buffer wasn't taking any chances. Flipping open his phone, he whispers 'shh' against Indigo's downy hair as he presses searches for his captain's number.

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_Next chapter: _Mike Flynn's point of view.


	4. Mike Flynn

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my own creations.

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Lieutenant Commander Mike Flynn was in his cabin when his cell phone rang. Noting the caller id, he flipped open the phone and raised it to his ear. 'Buffer,' he said. 'We set sail in forty five minutes, so you've got to ...'

'Sir,' interrupted Buffer in such a tone that Mike leans forward onto his desk in concern. 'Buffer, what's going on?'

'ET's back,' said the voice on the other end of the phone.

'ET?' said Mike, as shock coursed through his body. 'Are you sure it's _our_ ET?'

'In a form,' was Buffer's tight response as Mike rests his head on his propped up hand. _Pete and Nikki did not need this. _

'Nikki's been thrown and he's still here, standing in my kitchen,' continued Buffer angrily. 'I'm not coming back to the ship, sir. Not tonight.'

'I understand,' said Mike. 'We'll sail without you.' Hearing the cries of a baby in the background, Mike issues his final words before he lets Buffer go. 'And Buff...'

'Yes boss?' was the distracted response.

'Good luck.'

'Thanks,' said a harsh voice. 'I think I'm going to need it.'

Hanging up the call, Mike throws his cell phone onto the desk. 'Godamnit,' he said as he buries his face in his hands. He's hoped it would never come to this. Josh Holiday was supposed to be dead and buried, and he'd received an assurance from the Australian Federal Police that Rafe Bertolli would never make his existence known – ever. This was why he had told no one - and particularly not his Navigator - after he'd been called into Commander Marshall's office and been advised of the true circumstances surrounding the death of ET aka Leading Seamen Josh Holiday (aka Rafe Bertolli).

_Well it looks like AFP has a mess on their hands now, _thought Mike as he reached for his satellite phone to place a call to the boss.

When the HMAS Hammersley prepared to set sail half an hour later with a caretaker bosun, Spider enquired as to where Buffer was. 'We're going without him,' responded Mike in a tone that brooked no further argument or explanation as the boat pulled away from the dock, slicing through the sea with ease as they headed out on patrol. _May God be with them. _

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_Finito. _


End file.
